Posey: Eligibility document plan not personal

'The last election is over ... but it's reckless not to eliminate future problems'

A Florida congressman who has proposed requiring candidates for the presidency to document their eligibility for the office under the “natural born citizen” requirements of the U.S. Constitution says it’s not intended to affect President Obama’s current term, but he wants to avoid similar issues in the future.

“The last election is over,” Rep. Bill Posey, R-Fla., said on a radio interview. “I don’t think that outcome is going to change. Personally, I think it’s futile to go there, but looking toward the future I think it would be reckless if we do not do everything we could to eliminate problems like that in the future. And that’s why I filed the bill.”

“I was talking to Neugebauer about it, and my good friend John Culberson was listening to the conversation and so Randy said, ‘Yeah, I told my staff I wanted to sign up on that already.’ And having heard the conversation, Culberson says, ‘Yeah, sign me up.’ And the judge (Carter) was sitting in the next row listening to the conversation and he said, ‘By God, sign me up!’ So you know, we might start getting a little bit of steam here pretty soon,” he reported.

“I didn’t strong arm these people,” Posey explained. “I haven’t begged anybody to sign on this thing, I haven’t asked anybody, really. The people that come up and slap me on the back and say, “Good luck to you!’ I say, ‘Hey, there’s room for you on here!’ And of course, they start doing the moonwalk, you know? ‘Oh no, no, no, congressman!’ he laughed. “But you know, times change and time wounds all heels.”

The genesis of Posey’s bill began while still serving in Florida’s state senate, where his first assignment placed him squarely in the middle of fixing the elections process following the 2000 presidential voter ballot debacle.

“Since that time, that’s been a hot spot with me,” he said. “To make sure our elections process is fair and uniform, is implemented and runs like a clock.”

He said while reviewing the eligibility dilemma, he decided there’s nothing to be done about the 2008 election.

“I don’t think a Supreme Court would remove a president from office if they heard the case. But … we should make a good faith effort to make sure that things in the future are as they should be,” he said.

“The only part of the Constitution that did not have implementing legislation was the president’s eligibility of being a citizen, native born, age 35. So I simply filed a bill, no fanfare, no press conference. Didn’t seek co-sponsors to require that presidential candidates be required to furnish a copy of their birth certificate, just to remove that item of contention, not realizing it would be a shot heard around the world.”

He said he found opposition on his own staff.

“When I first had the draft, I didn’t hear from my chief of staff for a while, and I finally asked him ‘Hey, what’s up with that draft that I asked you to staff?’ And he said, ‘Come in here, come in here’ and he closed his door and he said, ‘You can’t do that.’ I said, ‘What do you mean, I can’t do that?’ He said, ‘That’s not the way we do things up here.’ I said, ‘Well, what do you do up here?’ He said, ‘Well, you write the Judiciary a letter, and you make an inquiry…’ and I said, ‘Yeah, and it gets lost and soon forgotten.’ And he said ‘Well yeah, it might.’ And I said, ‘Well how do you ever resolve it?’ He said, ‘Well that’s just the way it’s usually done up here.’ And I basically said, ‘Do you like your job? Make sure that gets filed before you go home.'”

He said he was warned about the criticism, and it arrived.

“Even my local paper had a picture of a guy wearing a T-shirt that said, ‘Washington D.C.’ and wearing a tin hat that said ‘Birtherville’ on it. You know, ‘I sent my congressman to Washington, and all I got was this stupid tin hat.’ And that was typical of the criticism I’ve received from one end of this country to the other.”

He also was named by Keith Olbermann “The Worst Person in the World,” and Rachel Maddow trashed him on her show, and then asked him to come on. And although Posey admits he would relish a good debate with her, just to set the record straight, he’s refused her invitations.

“You know, I won’t do it cause she’s got a lousy, low rated show, and I don’t want to give her the ratings, quite frankly. But you know what’s so ironic? Is with all this stuff that’s been written calling me an idiot and a tin hat, they all seem to have forgotten that the Washington Post and the New York Times called for this exact legislation less than 36 months ago when they thought it would render McCain ineligible because McCain was born in the Panama Canal Zone,” he said.

“Now, Barack Obama himself, then a U.S. senator, thought it was important enough to co-sponsor the resolution declaring McCain eligible … It’s kind of an ironic circle, isn’t it?” he said.

Though the freshman representative said he won’t make this personal about Obama – “It’s not a matter that I don’t want to tackle it head on with him,” – he made the point that, “The only people that I know who are afraid to take drug tests are the people who use drugs.”

He paused, choosing his words carefully. “There’s zero chance … of him being removed from office. I’ve talked to high ranking members of our judiciary committee who say, ‘You know, this is a matter of standing, this is why the Supremes won’t take this up, and the Supreme Court exists to protect individuals or groups of individuals from having their rights trampled and there’s not anybody that has the proper standing.'”

But he said they alluded to the fact it’s Congress’ obligation.

So he’s trying to respond to that responsibility heading into the future.

“It’s prospective. It’s not personal. It’s not debating the last election. The last election is over. I don’t think that outcome is going to change. Personally, I think it’s futile to go there, but looking toward the future I think it would be reckless if we do not do everything we could to eliminate problems like that in the future. And that’s why I filed the bill,” he said.

Posey has taken major media heat over his attempt to clarify the process by which a presidential candidate is vetted.

“I’m trying to get the record straight, that’s all. Nothing more, nothing less, nothing else, that’s all. The Lefties cannot understand. That’s what the Leftist media cannot understand. It’s inconceivable to them. The first reporter that called me up opened the conversation asking why I filed ‘that racist bill.’ I’m trying to see that the Constitution is heretofore followed, end of subject, period. Nothing more, nothing less.

“But that reality, angry people just don’t want to accept it. I don’t apologize for trying to do the right thing. I’m not happy with the way the Constitution’s been trampled. I’m not happy that we have Government Motors now offering interest free loans competing against Ford who has to charge market rates to make ends meet. I’m not happy about so many of the things that are going on in this country right now, that are obviously beyond my control to do anything about them as this is right now. But my Constitutional duty, the oath I took to protect and defend the United States against all enemies domestic and foreign, requires that I take this action that I’m doing, in whatever large part or small part it may play,” he said.

The billboard campaign follows an ongoing petition campaign that was launched several months ago by WND Editor and Chief Executive Officer Joseph Farah.

They are intended to raise public awareness of the fact that Obama has never released the standard, “long-form” birth certificate that would show which hospital he was born in, the attending physician and establish that he truly was born in Hawaii, as his autobiography maintains.

The “Certification of Live Birth” posted online and widely touted as “Obama’s birth certificate” does not in any way prove he was born in Hawaii, since the same “short-form” document is easily obtainable for children not born in Hawaii. The true “long-form” birth certificate – which includes information like the name of the birth hospital and attending physician – is the only document that can prove Obama was born in Hawaii, but to date he has not permitted its release for public or press scrutiny.

Oddly, though congressional hearings were held to determine whether Sen. John McCain was constitutionally eligible to be president as a “natural born citizen,” no controlling legal authority ever sought to verify Obama’s claim to a Hawaiian birth.

WND has reported on dozens of legal challenges to Obama’s status as a “natural born citizen.” The Constitution, Article 2, Section 1, states, “No Person except a natural born Citizen, or a Citizen of the United States, at the time of the Adoption of this Constitution, shall be eligible to the Office of President.”

Some of the lawsuits question whether he was actually born in Hawaii, as he insists. If he was born out of the country, Obama’s American mother, the suits contend, was too young at the time of his birth to confer American citizenship to her son under the law at the time.

Other challenges have focused on Obama’s citizenship through his father, a Kenyan subject to the jurisdiction of the United Kingdom at the time of his birth, thus making him a dual citizen. The cases contend the framers of the Constitution excluded dual citizens from qualifying as natural born.

Complicating the situation is Obama’s decision to spend sums estimated in the hundreds of thousands of dollars to avoid releasing a state birth certificate that would put to rest all of the questions.

Although Obama officials have told WND all such allegations are “garbage,” here is a partial listing and status update for some of the cases over Obama’s eligibility:

New Jersey attorney Mario Apuzzo has filed a case on behalf of Charles Kerchner and others alleging Congress didn’t properly ascertain that Obama is qualified to hold the office of president.

Pennsylvania Democrat Philip Berg has three cases pending, including Berg vs. Obama in the 3rd U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals, a separate Berg vs. Obama which is under seal at the U.S. District Court level and Hollister vs. Soetoro a/k/a Obama, (now dismissed) brought on behalf of a retired military member who could be facing recall to active duty by Obama.

Leo Donofrio of New Jersey filed a lawsuit claiming Obama’s dual citizenship disqualified him from serving as president. His case was considered in conference by the U.S. Supreme Court but denied a full hearing.

Cort Wrotnowski filed suit against Connecticut’s secretary of state, making a similar argument to Donofrio. His case was considered in conference by the U.S. Supreme Court, but was denied a full hearing.

Lt. Col. Donald Sullivan sought a temporary restraining order to stop the Electoral College vote in North Carolina until Barack Obama’s eligibility could be confirmed, alleging doubt about Obama’s citizenship. His case was denied.

In Ohio, David M. Neal sued to force the secretary of state to request documents from the Federal Elections Commission, the Democratic National Committee, the Ohio Democratic Party and Obama to show the presidential candidate was born in Hawaii. The case was denied.

Also in Ohio, there was the Greenberg v. Brunner case which ended when the judge threatened to assess all case costs against the plaintiff.

In Washington state, Steven Marquis sued the secretary of state seeking a determination on Obama’s citizenship. The case was denied.

In Georgia, Rev. Tom Terry asked the state Supreme Court to authenticate Obama’s birth certificate. His request for an injunction against Georgia’s secretary of state was denied by Georgia Superior Court Judge Jerry W. Baxter.

California attorney Orly Taitz has brought a case, Lightfoot vs. Bowen, on behalf of Gail Lightfoot, the vice presidential candidate on the ballot with Ron Paul, four electors and two registered voters. She also has brought forward several other cases and has conducted several public campaigns to generate awareness of the issue.

WND has reported that among the documentation not yet available for Obama includes his kindergarten records, his Punahou school records, his Occidental College records, his Columbia University records, his Columbia thesis, his Harvard Law School records, his Harvard Law Review articles, his scholarly articles from the University of Chicago, his passport, his medical records, his files from his years as an Illinois state senator, his Illinois State Bar Association records, any baptism records, and his adoption records.